Ethnopharmacological approaches to treat lymphatic filariasis

Abstract

Lymphatic filariasis is one of the oldest and debilitating health problems for the human beings. It is a parasitic disease which is prevalent principally in tropical and subtropical countries. It is a condition with initial clinical manifestations like, presence of high fever with or without rigors. It may be accompanied by itchy irregular erythematous swelling of the skin usually present in legs. This condition emphasis a typical elephant like leg due to swelling therefore it is also known as elephantiasis.  Wuchereria bancrofti, Brugia malayi and Brugia timori  are three major causative parasites which are responsible for lymphatic filariasis. The modern synthetic medicines found to be very effective for controlling lymphatic filariasis, but causes lots of side effects. Hence, there is a need to search for effective, non toxic novel herbal drugs with anti filarial activity. The herbal treatment destroys the filarial parasites present within the blood and lymph nodes.  Depletion of stoppage and swelling reduction is predominant in the prosperous treatment of lymphatic filariasis. This review provides the information for the researchers to investigate further and to attain lead molecules in the search of novel herbal drugs to treat lymphatic filariasis.